Australian comedian and natural born entertainer Benny Boot’s stand-up at a mostly full venue began with a sequence of one-liners, followed by a period of ‘witty banter’ and culminating with jokes that were accompanied by his expert arpeggio guitar picking.
The script of one-liners was haphazardly put together and he once put a joke in the wrong place but it didn’t disrupt the flow. Benny Boot’s comedy doesn’t really attempt to flow. His chaotic performance seems to reflect a chaotic, wild entertainer who plays up to the lonely comedian stereotype. Some jokes were cleverly written and original. They were endearing, boisterous and unique and could gave Ross Noble a run for his money in terms of surrealist imagination.
His best moments, however, failed to outweigh the duller moments and groans from the audience as numerous jokes in the sequence fell flat. He seemed aware that some of his jokes would not work and once mentioned specifically that his new joke was not going to provoke laughter. One could argue that this confidence to try jokes anyway showed a noble commitment to comedy. Unfortunately his set overall was too inconsistent and he also failed to fill his allocated time slot, which may have left some punters feeling disgruntled.
